If you haven’t figured out by name, I’m relatively obsessed with names and etymologies. I can remember way way back carrying my Petit Robert around to look words up. But the name Vinteuil has been stubborn as hell- refusing to come to the light. At a certain point I resigned myself to the annoying Continue reading “Vinteuil- at long last I grok you!”
Madame de Cambremer deserves better
Mme. de Cambremer let herself drift upon a stream of exquisite memories and sensations.
Lovely Mme. de Cambremer. I know she’s the butt of jokes. Her name ends poorly, meaning the ‘de’ should be appended to the end. Mme de Cambremer(de). Not all that different in tone from Mme Verdurin’s name – verdant tinged with the subtext of ordure and Continue reading “Madame de Cambremer deserves better”
You say Combray, I say Cambrai
Even though I’m not French I get it. The sound of an ‘o’ in a French word is nothing like the sound of an ‘a.’ So you say it’s Combray and I say but maybe it could be Cambrai. And then you ask me if I’m nuts. And I say well I’m not French, but… Continue reading “You say Combray, I say Cambrai”
A piece of Folly: Bunnikuns
MP to RH. A letter
1902
Dear Bunnikuns,
With old Fenelon here in Cambrai, on the way to Belgium. Don’t be cross, I couldn’t resist. he’s taking good care. Charming town, well fortified, many Merovingien remnants which I can scarce believe sit before my very eyes, and so near as almost to touch. Everything I imagined.
When I heard the town bells ringing, I thought of you and of how fond you would be of the vibrations in the towers, of the Continue reading “A piece of Folly: Bunnikuns”
Tante Léonie is a beast
Tante Leonie’s the domestic ‘lioness’ looking out from her room ‘tower’ over the village square of Combray and observing the comings and goings.
To my mind, she’s the beast. Akin to the Lion of St. Mark overlooking the square in Venice, she’s the one who facilitates the dipping of the Madeleine in tea that sets everything moving. Young Marcel dips the biscuit in tea… Continue reading “Tante Léonie is a beast”
Ceci n’est pas un Swann de Combray
Meet Le cygne de Cambrai: Francois Fenelon. He’s a French archbishop from the late 1600’s who somehow took on the sobriquet The Swan of Cambrai. And could possibly, just possibly, have served as inspiration for the Swann of Combray front and center in Swann’s Way.
It could be nothing more than that. Just a simple borrowing of… Continue reading “Ceci n’est pas un Swann de Combray”
Illiers-Combray lolol
My son sometimes says something I’ve done is cringe, and I mean no harm to Illiers when I say this (though I hate when he says it to me!) but I do find it a bit that. Of course the town’s the real deal, and yes I’ve been there and it’s charming, but a name… Continue reading “Illiers-Combray lolol”
A piece of Folly: Marketing Marcel
Maggie sat on the front stoop, hothouse flower in her black robe with its exotic summer flowers – red, pink and yellow – vibrant and pulsing against the nondescript doorframe and Continue reading “A piece of Folly: Marketing Marcel”